How To Plant Bare Root Raspberry Canes

​Raspberries are usually grown from bare-root canes acquired during the dormant season, between late autumn and very early spring. Raspberries are delicious, healthy and relatively easy to grow. This could be a great time to consider adding some of these delicious fruits to your garden.

Choosing Raspberry Canes

When choosing your raspberries, you will need to decide whether you would like summer-fruiting or autumn-fruiting varieties. Some raspberries are primocane (fruiting on this year's growth) while others fruit on the growth of the previous year. Researching varieties will also allow you to get the right option or options for your area. With enough space and the right varieties, you could be eating raspberries all the way from June through to October. 

Preparing Growing Areas for Raspberry Canes

Before you order and plant your raspberry canes, you should consider what sort of support you will provide for your raspberries. Most commonly, a frame is built and your raspberries are tied into wires on that frame. However, when space is limited, you can even use a single post to which to tie a few raspberry canes. You should also consider adding organic matter to improve the growing area before you begin to plant your bare root raspberry canes, in order to make sure that they get the best possible start.

Another thing to think about when establishing your fruit garden is that it is quite likely that you will have to net your soft fruit bushes to prevent all your fruits being eaten by the birds that share your garden. While some berries and fruits eaten by birds are 'taxes', sometimes, you would lose the lot if you did not offer some protection. Think about placing supports to make it easier to net before you plant anything, so as not to disturb roots at a later date. 

Planting Bare Root Raspberry Canes

Did a hole large enough to accommodate the roots and hold the the bare-root raspberry cane upright  to that the uppermost roots will be covered by at least 1.5cm of soil. Then fill in the soil around the roots and firm down gently to keep the cane in place.  It is best to plant summer-fruiting raspberry canes around 40cm apart, and autumn fruiting varieties around 60cm apart. You should usually leave at least 1.8m between rows. Prune the canes of autumn fruiting canes to 2-4cm above the ground, but leave summer fruiting ones as these can be supplied as one year old canes which can  fruit for you in the first season. 

​Raspberries are not the only choice when it comes to fruiting plants of this type. Tayberries, loganberries, boysenberries, jostaberries and Japanese wineberries are all similar fruiting canes that are hardy and well suited to inclusion in a permaculture garden.